The Preview: Ole Miss Baseball at Missouri Tigers in Game 1 of the SEC Series

Mike Bianco's crew heads to Columbia for a matchup against the Tigers, second SEC series of the season.

Zack Nagy | Mar 21, 2025

Ole Miss LHP Hunter Elliott throws a pitch against Wright State on Feb. 28, 2025 at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss. / Ole Miss Athletics

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 18 Ole Miss Baseball travels to Columbia, Missouri this weekend for their first road series of the season. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. while both Saturday and Sunday are set for 4 p.m.

What to Know:

Ole Miss split the season series with No. 19 Southern Miss on Tuesday, dropping their second matchup 6-2 at Trustmark Park.
Cade Townsend made his first career start in the loss, working three innings and striking out five batters.
Mitchell Sanford hit .455 with two home runs and a 1.182 slugging percentage in the last weekend's series against Arkansas.
Sanford is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two home runs, two triples, and seven RBI over his last five games.
Hunter Elliott is now 4-0 on the season, after working five innings and striking out eight batters last Friday against Arkansas.
Ole Miss was ranked in four of the five polls this week with the highest being No. 18 by D1Baseball and the USA Today coaches' poll. The Rebels were also slotted at No. 19 in the Baseball America poll and No. 24 in the NCBWA poll.
The Rebels won 13 games in a row from February 16 to March 9, their longest winning streak since they won 16 in a row during the 2020 season.
Isaac Humphrey and Hayden Federico are each riding 17-game on base streaks.
Ole Miss' offense comes into the week ranked 10th in the NCAA in home runs and home runs per game with 39 total long balls over 20 games.
They are also ranked 31st in the NCAA in walks having drawn 120 free passes this season.
Hayden Federico is 41st in the country and 5th in the SEC, averaging one walk per game.
The pitching staff is ranked eighth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.0 punchouts per game.
Hunter Elliott's 33 total strikeouts are 12th-most in the SEC and his 12.21 K/9 is top 10 in the conference.
Collin Reuter and Missouri's Pierre Seals were teammates on USA Baseball's 2015 12U National Team. The pair helped Team USA win a gold medal at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP

Ole Miss: LHP Hunter Elliot (4-0, 2.22 ERA)
Missouri: LHP Ian Lohse (0-3, 7.15 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Matt Pauley (PxP) and Dylan Kelly (analyst) on the call.

Fans can also listen to all the games on the Ole Miss Radio Network with Eli Savoie (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.

SCOUTING REPORT

Kerrick Jackson is in his second season as the head coach of the Missouri Tigers after spending the 2023 season leading the Memphis Tigers.

Missouri is currently 8-11 overall and 0-3 in conference play after being swept by then-No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge last weekend. Outfielder Cayden Nicoletto leads the team offensively, hitting .392 with 16 runs scored and 11 RBI. 21 different players have debuted for the Tigers through their first 19 games of the season.

The last series between the two teams took place in 2023 in Columbia. The Rebels and the Tigers combined for 70 runs as Missouri took the first two game to win the series. Calvin Harris hit a program-record four home runs in the Sunday finale as Ole Miss won 20-14.

ON THE PATH

Both Isaac Humphrey and Hayden Federico have reached base in 17 consecutive games, with Humphrey's streak dating all the way back to the second game of the season against Texas.

Federico has reached base in every game he has played in to start his career and had four walks on Sunday against Arkansas. The freshman leads the team in on-base percentage at .494.

ENTER SANDMAN

Rebel closer Connor Spencer has made seven appearances out of the bullpen and has yet to allow an earned run. He gave up his first hit of the season on Sunday against Arkansas. He is tied for second in the SEC in active career saves with 12 total over his three seasons of DI baseball.

WASTE NO TIME

The Rebels are outscoring opponents 29-9 in the first inning and 51-13 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 10-2 when scoring in the first inning and 13-1 when they score the first run of a game.

NEVER SAFE

The Rebel pitching staff has picked off eight runners this season, surpassing its totals from each of the last two seasons already. Hunter Elliott leads the team with four pick offs, Riley Maddox has two, and Mason Nichols and Walker Hooks each have one.

GET US STARTED

Ole Miss' starting rotation of Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox, and Mason Nichols are sporting a combined ERA of 3.26 through the first five weeks of the season. They have allowed just 24 earned runs and struck out 83 batters over 66.1 innings of work. Elliott and Nichols have each reached the 10 punchout mark in a start this season, tying or setting new career-highs.

RETURN OF THE KING

Hunter Elliot was named the Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for the month of February.

Elliott made three starts in the opening month of the season, working at least five innings and picking up the win in each. He only allowed six total hits and did not allow a run, earned or otherwise, to score.

Elliott was one of 17 qualified pitchers in the NCAA to not allow an earned run this season and one of just four to not allow an earned run while working 16+ innings. He was also just one of 11 to not allow a run at all, earned or unearned.

On February 14, Elliott made his first start since April of 2023 shutting out No. 21 Arizona over five innings in Texas. He allowed just two hits and struck out three Wildcats on the way to his first win since February of 2023.

The following weekend Elliott had everything working against Eastern Kentucky in his first start at Swayze Field in almost 700 days. He tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts over six innings, allowed just three hits and not issuing a single free pass. He faced just one batter over the minimum as he picked off two of the three baserunners he allowed.

POWER SURGE

Judd Utermark hit two home runs in the Rebels' win over Murray State, giving him his first multi-home run game of his career. He hit four home runs in four-consecutive games from February 28 to March 5, hitting five total during that time. He joins , Logan Power, and Michael Rosamond as the only Rebels to hit a home run in four-straight games since 1997.

(Via Ole Miss Baseball Press Release)